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What a rugby scrimmage is
A rugby scrimmage is a friendly between two club sides, in union or sevens, played outside league results. Coaches use it to give new players contact minutes, try a new half-back pairing, and test set pieces under pressure. Before kickoff, both clubs agree the format, how contested the scrums and lineouts are, and the replacement rules.
How to find a rugby scrimmage in 4 steps
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Build your team's profile
Choose rugby, then set the birth year, gender (boys, girls or co-ed) and level: recreational, development, competitive or premier. Set your travel radius. List how many birth years you will play up or down; Next Play shows when your range overlaps another side's.
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Find a side, or post an open game
Look through rugby teams that fit, inside your radius. If you already have the pitch booked, post an open game with the date, time window and venue, and matching teams can claim it. Note whether you want fifteens or sevens so the right squads respond.
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Send a friendly invite
Pick your team, the date, the kickoff time and who hosts (your pitch or theirs). The other club accepts, suggests another time, or declines with a reason. If the club you want isn't on Play 2 Earn Sports, invite it by name and we email that club an invite with one reminder.
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Play, then confirm the result
After kickoff, one club enters the score and the other confirms or disputes it within 48 hours. Confirmed games go on your team's schedule and add to each team's record, kept separate from league tables.
How long is a rugby scrimmage?
It depends on the code you play and the age of the players. Union is played in two halves, sevens in two short halves, and friendlies at any age are often shorter than league games. Typical patterns many clubs use:
- Younger age grades (roughly under-10 to under-12): many clubs play a modified game on a smaller pitch with fewer players, short halves or several short periods, and limited or staged contact. Some friendlies at this age are tag or touch, with tackling added only once players have been coached in it.
- Middle grades (roughly under-13 to under-16): halves shorter than adult union are common, often with uncontested or limited scrums for newer players and rolling replacements.
- Older youth and senior sides: close to full-length halves in fifteens. Sevens friendlies are often played as a round of short games, so a squad may play two or three matches in one session.
Many coaches cut minutes for players returning from a layoff. These are examples only; agree your own format with the other coach.
What to agree before the game
- Code and numbers: fifteens, tens or sevens, and how many players per side for younger grades.
- Halves and time: the length of each half, the break, and the latest finish on the pitch booking.
- Contact readiness: tackle height and technique expectations for the age group, and whether any players are new to contact.
- Scrums and lineouts: contested, uncontested or limited push, and whether lineouts include lifting.
- Replacements: rolling replacements or a fixed number, and blood replacements.
- Referee: whether you want one referee or a full crew with assistant referees, and who books them.
- Medical: who provides a first aider at the pitch, how a suspected concussion is handled, and that players wear mouthguards.
- Kit: contrasting jerseys and socks, and studs suited to the pitch surface.
Why clubs use Next Play for rugby scrimmages
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Opponents matched on age, gender and level
Search rugby sides by birth year, gender and level within your radius. Play-up and play-down ranges help you find a side where contact levels make sense for both teams.
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A private thread to settle the details
Each booked game gets a chat for the two clubs' staff only. Agree scrums, lineouts and replacements there. Players and parents can't read it, and report and block are built in.
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Referees on request
Ask for one referee or a full crew. The host club and the referee agree the fee, and Next Play doesn't charge for this.
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Records clubs can check
Every number in a team's record comes from friendlies both clubs confirmed: games, wins-losses-draws, late cancels (less than 24 hours' notice) and no-shows. After 10 confirmed games, a club is a Featured club for 30 days and gets a social post. Next Play is free for clubs to use.
Questions
Set up your side in Next Play with rugby as the sport, your birth year, gender, level and travel radius. The app lists matching clubs near you. Send a friendly invite with the date, kickoff time and host pitch, or post an open game if you have the pitch booked and want another side to claim the slot.
In practice, yes. Most rugby clubs say friendly, while coaches who also work in American sports often say scrimmage. Both mean a game outside league standings. A friendly can be a full-length match under normal laws, or a shorter game with uncontested scrums and rolling replacements. The two clubs decide which before kickoff.
Talk about it before you book. Tell the other coach how many players are new to contact and agree tackle expectations, scrum and lineout rules, and replacements. Many clubs use uncontested scrums and shorter halves for mixed-experience squads. Match on birth year and level in Next Play, and confirm the plan in the staff chat.
Yes. Sevens friendlies suit clubs with smaller squads or a short pitch booking, since games are quick and you can play several in one session. Say in your invite or open game that you want sevens, and agree the half length, the number of games and the break between them with the other club.
No. Next Play keeps friendlies separate from league standings. Results do count toward your team's record in the app, built only from games both clubs confirmed. One club enters the score after kickoff, and the other confirms or disputes it within 48 hours. Late cancels and no-shows are recorded too.
Adult club staff: owners, club managers, team managers and coaches the club allows. Players and parents do not use Next Play. Staff from both clubs share a private chat for each game and can request a referee or a full crew.
